State quarters with extra islands found
HONOLULU - A Honolulu coin collector says there's a problem with Hawaii's commemorative quarters.
Collector Joe Au-Franz said he's come across about 85 faulty quarters that feature 10 main islands instead of what should be eight.
He said the erroneous quarters will be a rarity among collectors. He'll be speaking about the quarters at a Honolulu Coin Club meeting on Wednesday in Kalihi.
The coins were made at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia and were released in 2008. Mint officials could not be reached for comment.
Mike Ellis of the Combined Organizations of Numismatic Error Collectors of America theorizes that there was a faulty die in Philadelphia that cast the extra islands.
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1,200 pounds of longan fruit stolen
KURTISTOWN, Hawaii - Big Island police are investigating the theft of more than 1,200 pounds of longan fruit.
The fruit is similar to lychee and is native to southern China.
Police say that between Feb. 21 and March 8, 20 longan plants and more than 1,200 pounds of the fruit were stolen from several Kurtistown farms.
Capt. Samuel Jelsma says the stolen fruit's total value is about $4,200.
